Getaway May_2019

12 M AY 2 0 1 9

Inbox
Travellers share their thoughts

Gallo Images/Getty Images, supplied

Meetingthepandasat

ChengduResearchCentre

inChina

• @serendipitzee
  Twomaleelephantsfighting
  atMarakele.Thewinner
  walkedrightuptheroad
  towardsme– I reversed out
  oftheresoquickly!


• @lifepiluckan
  Elephantsvisitingthe
  Okaukuejowaterholein
  Etoshaatsunset.That
  experienceis imprinted in
  myheartforever.


• @pmabuza
  Twomalelionscalling a third
  onea fewkilometresaway in
  Madikwein 2015 – powerful!


• @pepi_
  The meerkats of the
  Makgadikgadi Pan
  are very special.


• @rontgen_za
  Mountain gorillas in Rwanda.


• @jessbarron
  The Rietvlei Nature Reserve
  has some of the most relaxed
  game I have ever seen,
  including zebras.


• Geoffrey Ellis
  Trail running with the
  giraffes at Areena Riverside
  Resort on the Wild Coast.


• Kirst Forsyth
  Doing a bush walk with
  a ranger and meeting a
  cheetah hiding in a nearby
  bush in Samara Private
  Game Reserve.


• @jurgenjhp
  Walking into a pride of lions
  and scaring off their kill, with
  the legendary Frank Watts at
  Shimuwini, Kruger National
  Park – one of them followed
  us back to the car.


• @robertotoole

WE ASKED:What is

your favouriteanimal

encounterand where?

From social media

Thetravelbugbitata mostinopportune

time,butjustbeforetheschoolholidays,

andI realisedthatI desperatelyneededto

visitVietnam.It wasonlyasI stoodbefore

thecurtainsinmyHanoihotelroomhaving

flown acrossthree times zones,pickingup

an eye infectionand breakingmy perfume

bottleon the bathroomfloor, that I

wonderedif I’dforceda pathwherenone

wasmeanttobe.Intheend,it turnedout

tobeoneofthebestfamilyholidays.

Mychildrenlovedthetripasit was

completelydifferentfrom anythingthey

hadpreviouslyexperienced.IntheOld

QuarterofHanoitheywatcheda

traditionalwater puppettheatreat night,

and pedalledback to our hotel on cyclos,

passinga four-kilometremosaicwall

commemoratingthe1 000-yearhistoryof

Hanoi.The kids got to see poverty,but also

dignityin a peoplewho workedhard and

hardlyeverresortedtobegging. They

visitedthehomeofthelastemperor of

VietnaminHue,andlearntthe history of

Frenchcolonisation.

In Hoi An the coffeewas amazing, sweet

andstrongservedinlittlemetal cups on

sidewalkcafes,and my husband enjoyed

GoldenWeasel(theVietnamese equivalent

of Kopi Luwakor civet coffee).

I loved learningabouta new culture and

ancienthistory(I carriedmy Lonely Planet

with me) and being able to share it with my

kids and see their mindsopening. We had

themostdivinecoconutoilmassage in the

TempleSpainHoChiMinhCity, with

floatingmarigoldsand candles. A tropical

stormstoppedourvisittothe World

HeritageSiteofHaLongBay, but we ended

up visitingthe surrealpaddy fields, rivers

and caves of Ninh Binh instead.

• ZahidaFakey,Durban

FROMTHEEDITORWelovespontaneoustravel,soZahida wins a Little

Luxury Vitality water cooler and three-stage tap water filter valued at

R1 800! Email your letters (no more than 250 words) to editorial@

getaway.co.za. Getaway reserves the right to edit letters to style.

WiN!

Quantum travels in Vietnam

WiNNiNg

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